Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-08-26
THE NEW MANS "BID.0
INITIATING A STUDENT INTO THE
MYSTERIES OF A "DYKE.~

INITIATING A STUDENT INTO THE
MYSTERIES OF A "DYKE."
ginia-Tribulations of .LuckIess Vic
tim-SociaI ADJUSTMENTS of the Stu
dents-Re1igfous Organization.
We first visit the rooms of all our ac-
Quaintances, and inform them of the fact
that our new man has "bid," and that
he must be initiated into the mysteries of
a "dyke." This project meets with gen
eral acceptance, and preparations are
forthwith begun for this time honored and
purely local institution. Dyke is said to
be derived from q Greek verb signifying
to "show," to 'point out''-I suppose
from the action of pointing with the right
hand at the victim as you scream, ''Dykep'
The preparations are made by procur-
ing all the old horns, some of them six,
eight and ten feet long, that we can lay
our hands on; all the coal scuttles, not in
actual use, for drums; and old clothes,
wrapped around sticks and saturated with
oil, for torches. With this parapher-
MALTA we collect around the door of our
innocent FRIEND and, making the rest
conceal themselves behind pillars, trees
and everything else available, 1 go into
his room and watch him dress; talking all
the time in the most unexcited way posi-
BILE. At last he is ready. I stay behind
to blow out the lamp as he goes out of the
door. hear the words, 'tHere he is,
boysp' "All right" and hurried "Why,
what's the matter? What are you going
70 6oS1 Ifr i'll \
after momentary halt to give the fifty
torch bearers time to apply match to the
combustible material on the ends of their
poles, the prolonged shout, ''DykeI dykel
dykeP' is heard echoing and re-echoing up
and down the arcades, rousing all stu
dents, especially the new ones, from their
studies. The cry spreads like wildfire,
and is taken up from room to room,
house to house, range to range,
until the venerable old walls shake
with the din. Amid the shouts, the
blowing of the immense horns, and the
beating of tin pans, the victim, in the
hands of his quasi friends and by the
glaring light of torches, now increased to
perhaps 100, is rushed around the lawn,
around the ranges, and then up the middle
of the campus, and is finally placed upon
the topmost step, leading to the rotunda
perch, some fifteen or twenty feet above
the sea of upturned faces, which seems to
be SO cruelty enjoying themselves at his
expense.
MAKING A SPEECH.
Some kind friend behind him takes off
his hat for him, another catches him back
of the neck and compels him to make
bow. The cries of speech! speechr'
make the welkin ring and the windows in
<1n oil lnY,,a Intf 1,of
man, he will keep silent; if not, he will
further than the first word, to be deafened
by the applause. In some ten minutes he
is considered to have had enough. The
audience take him down, put ON his hat,
and rush him down the middle of the
lawn at full speed. When the house at
which the entertainment is given is
reached, the 200 men flor I have fire.
quently seen that many engaged in a
dyke form double line extending fifty
Or seventy-five yards, and the luckless
victim is rushed through by two captors,
right up into the house, little pitied by,
but affording much amusement to, the
girls assembled at the windows.
But when, despite Scylla and
Charybdis, he has safely reached
his haven, they make up for their heart
less1ess by being doubly sweet to him;
and as he wends his way homeward, some
where about the witching hour of 49, he
declares that for such pleasure he would |
suffer it all again.
He soon makes the acquaintance of most |
of the young ladies ir4the neighborhood,
if he is "calicoist'' (which implies a |
greater lover of the fair sex than of his |
studies), and pursues their acquaintance,
or not, as his own sweet will NAV die |
tate
A german club is generally formed in
the early part of the year, and gives
a german about once a month,
though last year it gave eighteen. This |
club is composed of the dancing girls as |
well as young men; the latter have to |
sign pledge not to drink a drop of any |
kind of liquor from NR'c clock of the day of |
the german until 10 O'clock the next day. |
This prevents any disorderly conduct, and |
makes the germans much less objectiona-
bic than formerly to the quiet citizens, |
who were liable to be disturbed at ali |
hours by the uproarious germanites after
the dancing was over.
SOCIETY OF THE LADIES. /
Our young friend, if fond of dancing,
Joins, and goes in for an amusement in
which only the dancing girls engage. If,
however, he is not a disciple of Terpsi- |
chore, and is still fond of ladies' society,
he has an equal number of beautiful and |
accomplished girls, who will talk, walk,
ride or f1irt with him, but disapprove of |
dancing.
If our friend is not susceptible to the
charms of the fair sex, he is by this time !
deep in his studies, getting quite inter-
ested in some ancient Greek, Latin or
Hebrew novelist, or else is just beginning
to see the beauty of solid geometry, law
or anatomy. If he does not care to study,
he will find many who are only too glad
to teach him how to spend his money, and
to spend it for him. But we
will not suppose our friend has such
disposition as either to be afraid of the
girls Or his studies. For it very fire.
quently happens that the best students do
a good deal of ''calicoing'
About this time he is asked, either by a
friend or some person specially appointed
for the purpose, to unite himself with the
Y. M. c. A, which is the Oldest college
Y. M. c. A. in the world-having been |
founded in 1858 and having been kept up
ever since. Ii he is q member of any es-
tablished church, he rarely hesitates to
take advantage of this opportunity to
show his interest and join in the only re-
ligious work of the university; for the Y.
organization here.-J. B. Wilbur, jr., in
The Only Natural Drunkards.
Drunkenness is vice belonging to no
nation, but of all races the Indians are the
only natural drunkards. With other peo-
70 &c j